Slang poster

[Beverly Flanigan]

Where in Minnesota is your wife from?  My entire family lives in Minnesota
(as I did for 25 years), and I've never heard [e] for [ae] before a voiced
velar stop.

(Tom, we're using IPA here, not the m-w pron. key.  But I agree with
Michael that "slang" has [ei], not [ae], presumably an effect of the /ng/
(velar nasal) following.  But the Milroys long ago observed that the vowel
in Belfast English is [E], reflected in fact in the 19th century spelling
"sleng."  So variants abound, as usual, in spite of what m-w says!

At 03:57 AM 10/26/2006, you wrote:
> > Poster:       Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Slang poster
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Are the vowels in "slang" and "slant" pronounced the same in m-w.com?
> >
> >
> > Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL4+
> > See truespel.com and the 4 truespel books at authorhouse.com.
>
>
>Although the pronunciation key uses the same symbol for both, in the
>recording I
>hear either a slight diphthongization or a raising in "slang".
>
>This is similar to the [e] for [æ] alternation I heard in North Dakota and
>Minnesota.
>
>When I ask my wife to say "wagon" she says [wegən] and when I ask her to
>syllabify it she says [wej - gən]. She claims the first vowel is
>identical to
>the vowel in "ray gun." And it's a true rhyme with "Reagan" she offers.
>
>I recently posted the claim:
>"[A]pparently before a voiced velar stop or nasal (either [g] or [ŋ])
>she raises
>/æ/ to /e/. Adding the [i]/[j] diphthongisation is probably just a natural
>effect when a coda is lost and the following onset is noticeably suspended."
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>    Michael Covarrubias
>    Purdue University
>    mcovarru at purdue.edu
>    wishydig.blogspot.com
>
>USA - MI4, OH3, MD3, MI13, ND5, MI3, IN1+
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org